Waste from Space

Waste from Space is Air & Space Evidence's satellite-based waste-crime service for regulators. Waste crime costs governments large sums, and regulatory budgets have not allowed large areas of a country to be monitored routinely and systematically for unknown illegal waste sites. The service addresses this with a detection model that uses satellite data and algorithms to find previously unknown illegal sites over very large areas.

Detection results can be risk-profiled, categorising violations by harm and culpability so that sites can be prioritised for investigation. Periodic satellite checks of permitted sites help confirm that permits or exemptions are being followed and alert regulators to problems as they arise, so inspections can be prioritised. Archived satellite data is used for historical site analysis, reconstructing what activity took place at a site, where and when, and for how long, for investigators and courts. The provider also states that covert satellite monitoring deters offenders, because they do not know when or where they are being monitored.

Air & Space Evidence is a University College London spin-off founded in 2014 that combines Earth observation expertise with environmental enforcement and legal expertise. Waste from Space won the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC) Product of the Year award.